A Series on Love: The Final Part--"The Greatest Commandment"

Jesus was asked during his ministry what the greatest commandment was. His reply summed up both the law and the prophets: "The most important one is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:29-31, NIV).



Love is the glue that holds Christians together. Though we differ on numerous theological points and hail from different denominations, the common thread is that our Heavenly Father loves us, His children, and we love him. By this love, the world will know we belong to God.



Indeed, the unconditional love we have experienced should shape our every action toward and interaction with believers and unbelievers alike. If God loves me despite my sinful nature because of Christ, then I am to overflow with love for others: love as I have been loved.



We have been adopted, called Children of God and not treated as our sins deserve. Our Savior then tells us to love God and love others. That's it, man's chief purpose in a nut shell. This is the "most excellent way" (1 Cor. 13:1).



The glory that comes to God, the joy, the reward, because we obey this, the greatest of commandments is overwhelming. God is glorified because in our love we point to Christ and his atoning work on the cross. The joy comes from the fact that the more we love, the greater the glory to God. And the reward is summed up in the rest of the passage from the Gospel of Mark. The young man who had asked Jesus about the greatest commandment replied, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:32-34).



--HM